2008 Recruiting Class

Jermie Calhoun: RB, Van, Texas

Kevin Wilson says: "Mathematically, he's going to be on the fringe of having an opportunity to play. He's a high school kid who has some physical strength and size and maturity that you think physically he might be a very competitive player early. Explosive, strong, fast, big-play guy. I think physically with he and Justin's (Johnson) size, you think those guys can be competitive early. I would be surprised if he's not on the fringe and from Day 1 is a guy that's going to be ready to compete. Hopefully he can be a first-year contributor. You can always use a couple or three (running backs). It's hard for just one or two to make it. Jermie physically has a chance to be competitive Day 1.

"He's got enough size where he's got some physicalness. He can play behind his pads and be a little bit of a load, but to be a 210-pound type guy with a lot of speed and change of direction. That's one of the unique things of him. Some of the guys have got the great speed and can make big plays and are maybe smaller, slighter and maybe not as physical a runner. I think he has a lot of the tools you're looking for because he brings a lot of size, and he brings a lot of speed and change of direction. A lot of the big guys maybe can't make you miss, or the big guys don't have the breakaway speed. But what you see on the high school level is a guy that's got that rare combination of quality size and quality speed and big-time change of direction. He's a guy that can make a big home run type play, but here's a 210-pound guy who can also play physical. That's why I think he has a chance to play early, because he appears to be physically very mature."

Justin Johnson: RB, Gilmer, Texas

Kevin Wilson says: "Very similar (to Calhoun). Justin may be in that 218-220 range. Of course he's already here on campus and going through some of the workouts. With our situation, could he play defense? Yeah, I think every tailback can play defense. Physically, if the tailback is not the best player on your team he's one of the best players on the team. Can they contribute at other places? Maybe, but we recruited those guys to be tailbacks. Coach (Stoops) is a very quality person of his word when those guys are recruited, so he's going to go through this spring getting a lot of work as a tailback. We have made moves, but we didn't recruit him to move him. He was a recruited as a tailback and we see him as a tailback.

"I know the speculation is we need backers, and here's a guy that could be a backer. He probably has the talent to play other positions, but we're not going to move anyone unless it's something that the person wants to do if and when there's a time to do that. He's going to be a tailback and he's probably going to be a tailback for a significant period of time. If we were doing that, we wouldn't have recruited all those juco linebackers at the last minute. He is a tailback. He's coming into that spot and we're going to need more than one back. We'll run the ball enough that you need to have a couple or three that you can trust. To win the league and compete for national titles, you better have three or four that you think you can go to battle with every week."

Stephen Good: OL, Paris, Texas

Kevin Wilson says: "Got hurt, so he missed some of his senior year. He is very strong, mature, explosive, very athletic. With the returning line we have, he has the physical attributes and the toughness and the strength where he should be very competitive Day 1. We have the bulk of our line back, but he will be in the mix Day 1 to compete. He's got the athleticism and range to be a tackle, but he's not so large that he maybe couldn't even play guard. I think we see him as a tackle, but he can crack the lineup as an inside guy. Even at the center spot, he's got enough athleticism that he can play any of the five spots. He is a tackle, he's been recruited to that. I think if he's healthy he will be very, very competitive and push to be on the two-deep from the first day he's here."

Ben Habern: OL, Argyle, Texas

Kevin Wilson says: "Very athletic, very explosive. Skilled for an offensive lineman. Has the strength and the explosion, and has gotten his size up, that I think will be competitive early to crack our two-deep at center or guard. I don't know how much center he's truly played, I think he played there in the all-star game. I don't know if he really played that in high school, I think he was playing a little bit more tackle and stuff. But the way he runs and moves and is playing, we thought he'd be the ideal center type. He probably has as much true strength and athletic ability at that inside spot as we've recruited in several years. I think, again, he may potentially have chance, like a Jon Cooper, to play as a young guy. I think he will have the ability to be on the fringe of cracking the two-deep from Day 1."

Britt Mitchell: OL, Roscoe, Texas

Kevin Wilson says: "Big, tall, tackle. Athletic guy coming out of a smaller school and he hasn't played as much competition, but has size. Very comparable to Wes Sims in his body structure and type. He's a little bit bigger than Stephen Good. He's 6-6, pushing 6-7. Very good knee-bender, runs very well, very athletic. He is here for spring ball and coming from a smaller school that will probably escalate his learning curve. He'll get a good learning curve this spring. I think his ability to contribute early will be can he adjust to the competition? Not that he lacks the strength, size, athleticism, but he probably of the three linemen has the broadest gap from what he's competed against to what he's going to. I think the competition that Stephen has been exposed to in the practices and camps, he may be a little further along. But again, I think a lot of people will look at his body and see a big, strong, muscular, good-looking kid that I think a lot of people will compare to Wes Sims. Not that he's the next Wes Sims and we're trying to get guys like Wes Sims, but he's a big, good-looking guy. He should be a tackle type. We've got a tackle in Britt, a center or guard in Habern, and you've got a tackle or guard in Stephen Good."

James Hanna: TE, Flower Mound, Texas

Kevin Wilson says: "A very athletic tight end. Almost a big receiver. I think this year he was the Offensive Player of the Year in his district. On his highlight clip, he's returning punts and reverses and kickoff returns so he's almost a big receiver. Right now, he's about 230 pounds, 6-4, runs extremely well. Great route runner, catches it very well, runs well after the catch. He will be very competitive early in the passing game, but on the perimeter needs just some strength and size to be a line of scrimmage, down-blocking, physical tight end. He's a guy that we recruited as an athletic, move-around, flexible tight end. We think his frame and body size will definitely be in time where he would be in that 240, 245, 250-pound range in the next couple years where he'll be a little bit more complete like Jermaine (Gresham). I think James Hanna showed flashes of being every bit the receiver that you see in the Jermaine Gresham type or the Trent Smith type tight end, but he'll need some strength and size to be a complete, all-around, line of scrimmage blocker with the great pass skills."

Josh Jarboe: WR, Ellenwood, Ga.

Kevin Wilson says: "Joshua Jarboe's big, physical. I think all those receivers potentially will be in the mix. He physically has size, strength, speed. I think the thing with all those guys will be their ability to learn our system, learn routes, to be competitive early. But his physical skills from Day 1 will be very high. Catches it well, catches the deep ball well. He did a nice job with a lot of the screen game they did with him. He will physically have the size and strength and maturity to be a very competitive, strong, Day 1 receiver. Hopefully he'll be competitive and play as a freshman."

Landry Jones: QB, Artesia, N.M.

Kevin Wilson says: "Had him in camp for two years, very nice size. Sometimes I think we always compare guys to guys we've got here, but it's not like we're trying to recruit a guy to be the next so and so. I think he's like Sam (Bradford) in that he's a tall guy, but he does move well. He's not a big, stiff guy that sits in the pocket that doesn't have mobility. He can bootleg, get on the corner. His movement and his athleticism, I think, will surprise some people. His arm strength is outstanding. A taller guy that sees the field well. Appears to be very sharp and did a great job with his high school every year playing at a high level putting up great teams, great wins. He's shown well on the national level everywhere he's went and competed. I think we're very fortunate to get him. Of the guys we targeted, that's one of the guys we went after early. I think Josh (Heupel) felt good having had him in camp and working with him. I think he genuinely liked his personality and some of the off-the-field characteristics that go into making a quarterback. I think Josh felt he was a quality guy that was a good fit for a our program and a good leader. He had the mannerisms and the makeup that you're looking for, outside of just the size and the strength and the movement and how far he can throw it and how strong his arm is. I think Josh just also liked the makeup of him as a young man."

DeJuan Miller: WR, Metuchen, N.J.

Kevin Wilson says: "As a big guy, he's really nifty with his wide receiver screens and getting out of routes. He's a taller, 6-4 guy. But at the same time from I think we saw with our evaluations and what we saw on tape, what he's done in camps and combines, he can get in and out of breaks. He is a large guy, but he is a guy that can go up top. Like Jarboe, they both can go up tall and they both can play big and go up and make competitive plays. He is a guy that I think our fans will see does have some shiftiness and elusiveness. It's nice to have size, but if you can't get away from guys that are going to jam you up and collision you, you've got to be able to change directions and have some niftiness. So again, I think for a big guy he can stretch the field, he can go up and play big. Just like with Joshua Jarboe, if you can pick up early and physically and mentally be a mature guy, he'll be in the mix to play as a freshman."

Jameel Owens: WR, Muskogee, Okla.

Kevin Wilson says: "Again, very similar (to Miller and Jarboe). All three of those guys are decent-sized guys. They all have very good straight-ahead speed. I think they all can play physical. Coming out of an upper-level program, a quality player. A highly-recruited player. Been an impact player for a couple years, a go-to guy. I would like to think that all those receivers have the physical size and speed that they can have a chance to be competitive and have a chance to play as first-year players. If they are mature enough, learn the offense, are competitive, learn to make that step as young men to play at the college level, I could see all three of those guys potentially in the two-deep. If for some reason a guy gets dinged up or things don't go as well early, maybe one of those guys is maybe not going to play. But I think we see all three of those guys, and I think we see Hanna as a tight end receiver might look as good those receivers catching the ball."

Casey Walker: DT, Garland, Texas

Jackie Shipp says: "Casey is a very good athlete. He's a big man who runs very well, but he has great strength, likes to work, likes the weight room. One thing that impressed me about him was that he chases the ball well. He's a defensive tackle that runs sideline to sideline. He has good speed and quickness and excellent strength. He fits in with the type of player we like to use at defensive tackle."

Stacey McGee: DE, Muskogee, Okla.

Jackie Shipp says: "He's a super football player who will start at defensive end. He's probably going to win the state heavyweight wrestling championship and he can throw a 90 mile per hour fastball . He's got a great upside. He has good size and strength and runs incredibly well. He never gives up on a play. He's the kind of player that we look for to play along the defensive line. He's very athletic, very intelligent and both he and Casey are going to have great careers at Oklahoma."

Brent Venables says: "Originally recruited as a possible linebacker. He's close to 6-4, got great range. Like his ability to play high as a safety. Very active and disruptive the closer he gets to the box. We think that he can do a lot of different things."

David Sims, S, Butte Community College

Brent Venables says: "Jumps off the tape more than anything because of his explosiveness and his speed. Physical player with great speed. He comes in to contribute at a position and compete for a position that we really lack depth."

Mike Balogun: LB, Lackawanna Community College

Brent Venables says: "Mike's very mature. He's a 23-year old man. After getting to know him in a short period of time it was very apparent that he had the mental fortitude to really invest and transition from junior college to Division 1. Has a physical presence, can run and plays with a great deal of passing."

J.R. Bryant: LB, Garden City, Kan.

Brent Venables says: "Runs like a safety. Very athletic. The first thing that attracted us to J.R. is he's got hips and feet that you really want and can play out in space. Hawks the ball. A relentless player."

R.J. Washington: DE, Keller, Texas

Brent Venables says: "Our first commitment. Great defenses start up front and there's not a better player to start with. One of the most explosive players off the ball that we've had since Tommie Harris out of high school. Has a tremendous presence, motor, relentless attitude on the football field. Of all the freshmen defensive players, he might be the most physically mature along with Stacey McGee. Plays with the kind of motor that it takes to contribute right away. You can cover up mistakes as a young player when you have a motor like R.J. has and a passion that he plays with. Really looking forward to getting him in our system and turning him loose. He's got great physical skills and can really explode off the ball."

Lamar Harris: CB, Gilmer, Texas

Bobby Jack Wright says: "Lamar is, in our opinion, one of the top defensive backs and certainly one of the top corners coming out of the state of Texas. He had been recruited all year long and was a guy that had been committed previously to Texas A&M. So we're happy that we were able to get Lamar and really happy to have him join the Sooner family. I think he's got a great opportunity, especially with our needs in the secondary particulary at cornerback this next year. He's got an opportunity to come in early as a young freshman and make an impact on our football team."

David King: DE, Houston Texas

Chris Wilson says: "David's a guy I believe whose best football is ahead of him. The one thing you love about David is he's a guy whose played both inside and outside in high school. He has a great ability to rush the edge as well as go inside and be physical. The biggest thing about him is he's a highly-explosive young guy who can rush the pass, he's physical inside, he's got great speed."

Tres Way: K, Union, Okla.

Chris Wilson says: "Tres gives us a little bit of leverage when you get a guy who can kickoff as well as extra points and punt. He's a double-threat in that regard. Hopefully it will give you a chance to do a lot of things in your cover schemes as well as your punt teams when you can bring out a guy who's a dual threat."

Vince

I'm a die hard OU fan and former OU student during the heyday of the wishbone. Billy Sims played and won the heisman trophy when I was at OU. I love OU football and have been doing this page for about 18 years. I do the video editing and production. Glad you stopped by! Leave some comments and help me make this a great place for OU fans to visit